"Missional" is not a Tame Lion 1<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Michael Frost, one of the "coiners" of the M-word (missional), is suggesting we might call a moratorium on the use of this word because it has become too\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/10\/03\/missional-is-not-a-tame-lion-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Missional" is not a Tame Lion 1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Michael Frost, one of the "coiners" of the M-word (missional), is suggesting we might call a moratorium on the use of this word because it has become too\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/10\/03\/missional-is-not-a-tame-lion-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-03T05:05:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-09-30T20:09:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/files\/2011\/09\/Screen-shot-2011-09-30-at-3.03.54-PM-245x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/10\/03\/missional-is-not-a-tame-lion-1\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/10\/03\/missional-is-not-a-tame-lion-1\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Missional\\\" is not a Tame Lion 1\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-03T05:05:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-09-30T20:09:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"Michael Frost, one of the \\\"coiners\\\" of the M-word (missional), is suggesting we might call a moratorium on the use of this word because it has become too\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/10\/03\/missional-is-not-a-tame-lion-1\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/10\/03\/missional-is-not-a-tame-lion-1\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/10\/03\/missional-is-not-a-tame-lion-1\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Missional” is not a Tame Lion 1\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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{"id":20902,"date":"2011-10-03T00:05:13","date_gmt":"2011-10-03T05:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/?p=20902"},"modified":"2011-09-30T15:09:19","modified_gmt":"2011-09-30T20:09:19","slug":"missional-is-not-a-tame-lion-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/10\/03\/missional-is-not-a-tame-lion-1\/","title":{"rendered":"“Missional” is not a Tame Lion 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

In other words, missional isn\u2019t a department or a new ministry. To be missional is all or nothing.<\/p>\n

What is going on in your \u201cworld\u201d that is missional? Is this term being discussed at your church, among your leaders? How can a small group be missional? Has \u201cmissional\u201d become a buzzword for you?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frost is not alone. He\u2019s with Alan Hirsch and John Drane and Darrell Guder and Lois Barrett and Neil Cole and Ed Stetzer and Dan Kimball\u2026 among others he mentions. Without giving names this time, he sees too many \u201cnot-quite-missional\u201d voices. The M-word is not just a new edition of the word \u201cmissionary.\u201d Frost thinks the growth of megachurches is an indicator not of the vibrancy of missional but of its absence and he thinks the younger generation is turned off to the megachurch.<\/p>\n

The M-word is about the unfurling of the kingdom, the mission of God in this world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe call to live an incarnational life, to serve as Christ did, and to lead others into the risky vocation of following the missio Dei, is not a simple or easy task. It is a lifelong calling to service, sacrifice, selflessness, and effort\u201d (21).<\/p>\n

Missional is not the same as evangelism. He quotes David Bosch and I\u2019ve got to tell you I hear \u201cking Jesus\u201d in this: \u201cMission is more and different from recruitment to our brand of religion; it is the alerting [of] people to the universal reign of God through Christ\u201d (24). It means both announcement and demonstration. Mission and the triune God are connected as the God who reigns. Evangelism is a subset, though I\u2019d contend that what he means by evangelism is more or less the soterian gospel and not enough of the apostolic gospel, that is, the king Jesus gospel.<\/p>\n

On the evangelism vs. social action debate, the missional sees evangelism and social action as equally important dimensions of the church\u2019s mission. They are so entwined it is folly to separate them.<\/p>\n

The church is a movie trailer for the kingdom of God. The church is to be a \u201cthin place\u201d where God is breaking through. That is, God\u2019s mission is to make the church a thin place, a movie trailer, of what God is doing in this world.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"